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RANDOLPH 




CORLISS FITZ RANDOLPH 



A REPORT OF A VISIT TO 



EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



INCLUDING 



ENGLAND, WALES, SCOTLAND, HOLLAND 
AND GERMANY 



JANUARY— MARCH, 1909 



By 

CORLISS FITZ RANDOLPH 

Of the Public School Principals' Association of Newark, New Jersey 



(Reprinted from the School Exchange) 

Newark, New Jersey 

July, 1909 



COPYRIGHTED 1909 



;D FROM 
GQPYRIQHT OFflOF 



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At a regular meeting of the Public School Princi- 
pals' Association of Newark, New Jersey, held 
May 27, 1908, the following preamble and reso- 
lutions, offered by Mr. Alexander J. Glennie, Princi- 
pal of the Miller Street School, were adopted by a 
unanimous vote : 

In view of the fact that the City of Newark expects repre- 
sentation in the selection of teachers to visit European 
schools during the coming year, and because a member of 
the Principals' Association would have through the Associa- 
tion, peculiar opportunities for making his report useful and 
effective by reaching all the public schools of the city, 

Therefore, Be It Resolved : 1. That the Newark 
Public School Principals' Association respectfully asks those 
with whom the power of appointment rests, to include one 
public school principal among those representing Newark as 
visitors to European schools. 

2. That the Principals' Association would regard with 
pleasure the selection of Principal Corliss Fitz Randolph as 
representative of this organization. His personal and pro- 
fessional qualities are such as make excellent equipment for 
the purposes contemplated in the visit to European Schools, 
and to insure a discriminating, ample, and valuable report 
of the visit. 

3. That a copy of these resolutions be addressed to the 
Board of Education, and a copy also be sent to the City 
Superintendent of Schools. 

The appointment recommended in the foregoing 
resolutions, was made by the Board of Education of 
the City of Newark, through its Committee on 
Instruction and Educational Supplies: on June 22nd, 
1908. 



REPORT OF VISIT TO EUROPEAN SCHOOLS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

To the Members of the Committee on 

Teachers and Educational Supplies, 

Board of Education, Newark, New 

Jersey: 
Gentlemen: 

I beg to submit this a report of my 
visit to European schools, — a privilege I 
enjoyed by the appointment of your 
Committee. 

I sailed from New York City on Jan- 
uary 13, 1909, and reached New York, 
on my return, March 21, following, my 
stay being prolonged a few days by cir- 
cumstances beyond my control. 
Schools Visited. 

During my absence, I visited schools 
in London, Birkenhead, Liverpool, and 
Manchester, besides Eton College, in 
England; Swansea, in Wales; Glasgow 
and Edinburgh, in Scotland; Leyden, in 
Holland; and Berlin and Munich, in 
Germany. 

Personal Interviews. 

Besides visits to schools, I sought inter- 
views, as far as possible, not only with 
school officials, but with others in profes- 
sional and business life who were without 
direct connection with schools, in order 
to correct the perspective of the view 
I obtained from the schools and school 
officials, of education and its influence 
upon the people. 

Letters of Introduction. 
In this I was greatly aided by letters 
of introduction which I carried with me 
from this country from professional and 
business men who were interested in the 
object of my visit. The most important 
of these letters was one from Hon. Elmer 
Ellsworth Brown, United States Com- 
missioner of Education, obtained 
through the courtesy of Mr. Charles B. 



Gilbert, formerly City Superintendent 
of Schools of this city. This and the 
letter of appointment from your Com- 
mittee were the means of a cordial wel- 
come wherever credentials were needed. 

Courtesy of Steamship Company. 

The courtesy shown teachers by the 
White Star Steamship Company, upon 
whose ships I traveled, through arrange- 
ments made for that purpose by the 
National Civic Federation and Sir Alfred 
Mosely, through Mr. J. Bruce Ismay, 
president of the International Mercan- 
tile Marine Company, is deserving of 
more than a passing notice. Although 
arrangements were made for all the 
teachers to travel second class and at a 
mere nominal rate, there was surely no 
discrimination against us on that ac- 
count. Indeed, it would almost seem 
as if the teachers were made a sort of 
preferred class of passengers, so con- 
stant and so minute was the attention 
paid to their comfort. 

Entertainment and Facilities for Visiting 
Schools. 

For our entertainment in Great Brit- 
ain, generous provision had been made 
generally throughout the Kingdom by 
Sir Alfred Mosely, at whose suggestion 
the visit was organized, and by those 
who co-operated with him. This was 
particularly true of the social life. Series 
of receptions were organized in all the 
principal cities of England and Scotland, 
and the facilities for visiting the historic 
points of interest to teachers were made 
as simple as possible. 

Sir Alfred Mosely and his co-workers 
likewise provided means whereby our 
opportunities for visiting schools and 
observing their work were greatly ex- 
pedited. 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



BRITISH SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 

The average American is bewildered 
by what, for want of a better term, may 
be called the British system of educa- 
tion; by which I mean the various edu- 
cational organizations and institutions 
which contribute fundamentally to 
British national education, and which, 
as a system, is simple enough to the 
British mind. 

Class Distinction. 
First of all, British education is pro- 
foundly and fundamentally affected by 
social caste which, in its way, is as uni- 
versal, and as unalterably fixed, as the 
caste system of China, or India, or any 
other Oriental country. This does not 
wholly appear to the casual observer, 
but a. little patient, vigilant observation 
soon discloses it, and unless it is dis- 
closed, the visitor to their schools is 
always at a disadvantage, and held at 
arm's length from his work. Many 
British people affect to believe that 
caste lines are "breaking down," but 
after several conferences with those who 
would appear to be qualified to judge, 
in both England and Scotland, I am 
convinced that there is, at least, very 
grave doubt of the truth of this asser- 
tion. Personally, I was unable to see 
any tangible evidences of it. 

Taking the teachers themselves as a 
convenient illustration of how the caste 
problem works out, we will observe the 
following general classification: 

First: The teachers of the schools 
known as the county council elementary 
schools, or board schools, or their equiv- 
alent, form a class by themselves — men 
and women, head masters and head 
mistresses, and assistants, all. 

Second: Next come the teachers of 
the county council secondary schools, 
or their equivalent, with all the members 
of their respective staffs. 

Third: Here may be classed the 



teachers of the large number of pro- 
prietary schools throughout the king- 
dom, of which those of the Girls' Day 
School Trust, are fair examples. 

Fourth: Finally, at the top of the 
scale stand the great endowed public 
schools, so-called, like Eton, Harrow 
Rugby, and Charterhouse. Various 
other groups of schools, such as private 
schools, and parish schools, are classified, 
socially, according to their respective 
constituencies. 

Generally speaking, the people them- 
selves may be said to be classified, 
socially, into the nobility, the middle 
classes, and the lower classes. The 
middle and lower classes are subdivided 
according to certain well defined, but 
arbitrary, laws. For example, suppose 
two brothers, equally well endowed, 
mentally, and equally well educated, 
who have hitherto been received with 
equal favor in the same walks of social 
life, inherit like sums of money from 
their father, and decide to embark in 
business, separately, using all their 
respective fortunes for that purpose. 
Both enter the mercantile business, but 
one confines himself to wholesale trade, 
and the other gives his entire attention 
to retail business. By that token alone, 
they place themselves in wholly different 
social worlds, between which there is a 
great gulf fixed, across which they may 
not pass. 

An American woman whom I met 
living in England, who had entered her 
son in one of the endowed "public" 
schools of that country last fall, told me 
that the teacher having immediate 
charge of her son apologized to her for 
the presence in the school of the son of 
a building contractor, who had in some 
way been accepted in the school by 
mistake, and with whom her son must 
associate. 

A dentist, who, I am told, must now 
complete a full medical course, as if he 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



were intending to practice medicine 
instead of dentistry, before he is per- 
mitted to take the technical course in 
dentistry, is not received on an equal 
footing, socially, with a physician, since 
a dentist is regarded essentially as a 
mechanic or artisan, and is assigned to 
a lower social stratum than a physician, 
while the latter is regarded as a purely 
professional man in the rank along with 
the clergyman and lawyer. 

As a natural result of this difference 
in social organization between Great 
Britain and our own country, a com- 
parison between the schools of the two 
countries is very difficult; since, for 
example, the County Council schools of 
London, which are popularly supposed 
to correspond to the public schools of 
the large cities of this country, are after 
all very different in their constituencies 
and even, in the last analysis, in their 
ultimate aims. These differences should 
be borne in mind constantly in consider- 
ing British schools, or questions pertain- 
ing to them. 

In Scotland, class distinction is not so 
much involved as in England, and per- 
haps Wales is under less restraint from 
that source than England. The Welsh 
people say so, but my stay in Wales was 
too brief for me to observe how it works 
out. 

The general control of education 
throughout England and Wales is vested 
in a Board of Education with offices in 
London, but the schools of England and 
Wales are administered under two sep- 
arate acts of Parliament although in 
large part they are identical. The 
schools of Scotland are administered by 
a separate board and separate act, as 
will appear subsequently. 

GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF SCHOOLS. 

The Board of Education deals with 
the curriculum, determining its scope, 
and fixing the general standard of edu- 



cation for the country at large, and 
apportioning the funds drawn from the 
Imperial Treasury for school purposes. 
The schools of the different parts of the 
United Kingdom are administered, how- 
ever, according to the terms of the par- 
ticular Parliamentary Acts applying to 
them, respectively. Thus, the schools of 
Scotland are under control of the Im- 
perial Government through the Scotch 
Education Department with offices in 
London, according to the terms of the 
Scotch Education Acts. 

Local Control. 

Then there are local authorities; as, 
for example, in London, the immediate 
control of the schools is vested in the 
London County Council. The County 
Council, in turn, directs its school affairs 
through its Committee on Education, 
consisting of thirty-eight members of 
the Council, with twelve members (six 
of whom are women) selected from 
without the Council. 

Subordinate to the Education Com- 
mittee of the County Council, and assist- 
ing it, is a small army of boards of 
managers, which come into much closer 
relations with the individual schools. 

Non-Provided Schools. 
In addition to the schools of which the 
County Council has complete direct 
control, there is a large number of other 
schools, known as non-provided schools, 
which are primarily church schools, but 
which were formerly with insufficient 
financial support to make them efficient. 
Of these schools, and all others receiving 
financial aid from the County Council,, 
the latter body participates in the. 
management. 

Cost of Education. 
The London County Council spends 
annually upon education upwards of 
$27,000,000, of which about $20,000,000 
is raised by direct local taxation. 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



Autonomy. 

These several governing bodies of 
varying degrees of authority work in 
unison, and the rights of all — including 
those of the head master of a school, in 
whom are lodged large discretionary 
powers — are respected. 

London a Great Problem. 

London, where I first visited and 
where I spent more time than in any 



and crime, and also finds the situation 
still further complicated by the diversity 
of its educational institutions and their 
attendant machinery. 

COUNTY COUNCIL, OR BOARD, SCHOOLS. 

The County Council, or Board, Schools, 
of course received special attention from 
the American visitor, since they more 
nearly correspond to our public schools 
than any other British schools. 




CLASS IN ISLINGTON HIGHER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 



other one place, is a vast problem educa- 
tionally, no less to the English them- 
selves, than to the American visitor. 
To the latter, it is bewildering in the 
extreme; but, after all, the problems 
which London presents to the pedagogue 
are essentially the same as those pre- 
sented by a great cosmopolitan American 
city which has gathered its population 
from all the four corners of the earth. 
London, however, presents the prob- 
lems of the inheritance of centuries upon 
centuries of poverty, indolence, squalor, 



Departments. 
In England and Wales the elementary 
schools, in which the boys and girls are 
kept separate except in the infant de- 
partment, have three separate and dis- 
tinct heads; viz., a head master for the 
boys' department; a head mistress for 
the girls' department; and a head mis- 
tress for the infant department, the 
latter of which corresponds in a way, to 
our kindergarten and the first year of 
the primary school. These three de- 
partments, usually all under a single 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 







roof, are wholly independent of each 
other, but are expected to work in unison 
and harmony. 

Co-ordination. 

In some places, I found that the co- 
ordination of the work of the boys' and 
girls' departments, and the articulation 
of the infants' department with the two 
next above it, depended upon a single 
annual conference of the three heads of 
these several departments. In other 
places, there are frequent conferences, 
and occasionally I found a school where 
there was a regular weekly conference 
between the heads of the boys' and 
girls' departments. Probably there are 
but few schools in which there is not 
frequent informal interchange of in- 
formation and suggestion between the 
heads of different departments concern- 
ing the work. 

Superintendent. 

In Swansea, the only city I visited in 
the kingdom which has a Superinten- 
dent of schools who is known by that 
title,* that officer labors zealously to 
perfect and maintain a close unity 
between the various departments and 
schools throughout the city. But in so 
doing he does not interfere with the 
independence of the head master. In 
other words, he exercises the functions 
of his office in a sane and intelligent 
manner, securing the results sought for 
by a leadership which appeals to the 
heads of the schools and teachers under 
him, without exercising compulsion. 

In the cities of Glasgow and Edin- 
burgh, much the same results are at- 
tained through the clerks of their re- 
spective school boards. Oftentimes, an 
intelligent, progressive head master is 

* In some other places, there is an officer known as the 
Director of Education, whose duties are somewhat 
similar. But whether Director or Superintendent, the 
functions of such an officer in England do not appear to 
be quite identical with those of our superintendent. 



encouraged to develop original plans 
and methods, and these, when found 
successful, are tactfully placed before 
other head masters, through the super- 
intendent or clerk of the Board, in such a 
way as to secure their co-operation. In 
this way a spirit of growth and progress 
is fostered, without injury to the unity 
of the educational system of the munici- 
pality. 

UNITY THROUGH GOVERNMENT 
INSPECTION. 

After all, the unity of the educational 
system throughout the kingdom is main- 
tained, or sought to be maintained, 
through the government inspectors who 
are the direct personal representatives 
of the Board of Education of the Impe- 
rial Government. 

Inspectors Erratic. 

A general complaint is made, how- 
ever, that these inspectors are erratic, 
shifting their point of view frequently, 
and riding a series of hobbies, which are 
subject to frequent periodical change as 
they are imported from America, averag- 
ing about once in a year and a half, or 
as the inspectors create hobbies of their 
own, or seize upon them from other 
sources. 

CURRICULUM. 

The curriculum as laid down by the 
Board of Education in the central office 
in London, with a brief abstract of the 
interpretation of it by the Education 
Committee of one of the smaller cities of 
England, follows, herewith, made from an 
advance draft printed for the private use 
of the members of the Committee before 
adoption. 

For convenience in interpreting the 
curriculum, the child's life is divided into 
four periods, viz.: 



10 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



I. The Infant School — up to seven 
years of age, approximately. 

II. Classes i and ii, — from seven to 
nine years of age. 

III. Classes iii, iv, v, — from nine to 
twelve years of age. 

IV. Classes vi and upwards, — from 
twelve to fourteen years of age. 

Period I. 

In this period are included: Kinder- 
garten occupations in which special em- 
phasis is laid upon drawing. Knitting 
appears, but all other forms of needle- 
work are entirely omitted. Reading, 
writing, and number- work are likewise 
taught. Children under five years of 
age should have no formal instruction 
in reading and number-work. For the 
most advanced divisions of this period, 
the following weekly time schedule is 
suggested : 

h. m. 

Religious Instruction 2:30 

Assembly, Prayers, and Dismissal 1:40 

Registration 1:40 

Recreation 2:30 

Reading 3:30 

Recitation :30 

Handwriting 2:00 

Number 2:00 

Varied occupations (including Drawing) 4:00 
Nature and Object Lessons — Stories, 

etc 2:00 

Physical Exercises, Singing, and Games 2:40 

25:00 
Period II. 

In this period the methods of instruc- 
tion used in the infants' school are con- 
tinued for a time, gradually changing to 
those employed for older pupils. Read- 
ing, oral language work, oral number- 
work, nature study, and geography are 
introduced, and a carefully organized 
course in needlework is entered upon, 
which, in the higher classes will ensure 
"a practical knowledge of sewing, darn- 
ing, knitting, and the cutting out, mak- 
ing and mending of ordinary garments." 
An "emergency drill" (apparently in- 



tended to be the equivalent of the 
American fire drill) is introduced in 
this period. Recitations should not 
exceed half an hour in length. The fol- 
lowing weekly time table is submitted 
as suited to the approximate needs of 
the older pupils of the period: 

h. m. 

Religious Instruction.... 3:20 

Recreation 1 :40 

Registration :50 

English (including reading, recitation, 
spelling, stories, oral and written 
composition, transcription, penman- 
ship) 11:10 

Arithmetic 3:00 

Observation lessons — Nature Study 

and Geography 2:30 

Drawing 1 :30 

Manual Work — paper modelling for 

boys 1 1:30 

Manual Work — needlework for girls 1 :30 

Music 1:00 

Physical Exercises 1:00 

27:30 
Period III. 

In this period the fundamental sub- 
jects of reading, penmanship, and num- 
ber-work are emphasized. Formal 
grammar (but not parsing) is introduced. 
A series of observation lessons of an 
experimental character is presented, 
leading up to definite training, in the 
higher classes, in elementary science, 
cooking, and laundry work. Cause and 
effect in geography receive special atten- 
tion, and an introduction to map-making 
is advised. The work in history is in- 
formal — largely biographical. The boys 
begin mechanical drawing. The follow- 
ing weekly time table for older pupils, 
with the sexes treated separately, is 
suggested : 

Boys Girls 
h. m. h. m. 

Religious Instruction 3:20 3:20 

Registration :50 :50 

English (reading, recitation, 
spelling, oral and written com- 
position, grammar, history, 
penmanship) 9:30 9:00 

Arithmetic 4:00 3:30 








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12 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



Boys Girls 
h. m. h. m. 

Observation Lessons 1 :20 1 :20 

Geography 1:20 1:20 

Drawing 1:30 1:30 

Hand and Eye Training for boys 1 :30 

Needlework for girls. 2:30 

Music 1:00 1:00 

Hygiene :30 :30 

Recreation : 1 :40 

Physical Exercises 1:00 1:00 

27:30 27:30 

Period IV. 

Period IV, or the final period, is in- 
tended for boys and girls who cannot go 
to secondary, or higher elementary 
schools, and is expected to carry forward 
the work, in a more advanced form, of 
the preceding period. The boys are 
expected to attend centres for handi- 
craft, and the girls those for cooking and 
laundry work. A special course in 
domestic science is provided for the 
girls, which includes hygiene and the 
care of infants. The following is sug- 
gested as an approximate weekly time 
table for the advanced pupils of this 
period: 



Boys 
h. m. 



Girls 
h. m 



Religious Instruction 3:20 3:20 

Registration :50 :50 

Recreation 1:40 1:40 

English, (reading, recitation, 
composition, grammar, his- 
tory) 8:00 7:30 

Arithmetic 4:30 3:00 

Science 1:20 1:20 

Geography 1:20 1:20 

Drawing 1:30 1:30 

Handicraft— Boys...... 2 :30 

Needlework, Cooking, and Laun- 
dry Work— Girls.. 5:00 

Music 1:00 1:00 

Hygiene :30 

Physical Exercises 1:00 1:00 



27:30 27:30 

The foregoing outline curriculum is 
intended to provide a sound general 



education for children up to the age of 
fourteen years.* 

SCOTCH SYSTEM. 

How Administered. 

The school system of Scotland, as 
differentiated from that of England and 
Wales, is worthy of separate considera- 
tion. 

Here, as in England and Wales, the 
authority is dual, but, as there, one is 
subordinate to the other. Hypothetic- 
ally, the supreme authority is vested 
in the "Committee of the Privy Council 
on Education in Scotland," but in prac- 
tice it is the Scotch Education Depart- 
ment (abbreviated, after the British 
fashion, to "S. E. D.") with central 
offices in London, which exercises that 
important function. 

Powers of Scotch Education Department. 

This body has the exclusive power, 
under act of Parliament, of formulating 
all rules and regulations concerning the 
education and training of pupils and 
teachers in all schools receiving aid 
from the government; of the appoint- 
ment and direction of inspectors, or 
supervisors, who visit the schools peri- 
odically and report to the Scotch Edu- 
cation Department on the results of their 
visits to the schools with particular 
reference to the buildings, their equip- 
ment, corps of teachers, and the organi- 
zation, instruction, and general effi- 
ciency of the schools, as well as the 
fidelity of the management of the local 
school board or other body of governors, 
and the measure of success attending 
their efforts. 

* The course of study from which this abstract is made 
was prepared by one of the most intelligent educators I 
met while abroad. His name is withheld for the reason 
that his Committee had not yet acted upon his report 
which was submitted in the form of a draft, but in a 
somewhat extended conference with him, in which he 
discussed British Elementary education freely, he assured 
me that there was little doubt that his report would be 
accepted by the Committee in practically the same form 
in which it was submitted. 

The report majr be accepted as fairly representative or 
what is believed by the progressive British educator to be 
adapted to the preseni day needs of the class of people 
patronizing public elementary schools. 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



13 



Reports of Inspectors. 

These reports of the inspectors not 
only form the basis of the annual appor- 
tionment from the Imperial Treasury 
paid by Parliament to the schools, but 
here, as in England and Wales, they 
likewise are the means of preserving a 
certain unity of organization and har- 
mony of immediate purpose throughout 
the country. 



Besides the two sources indicated, rev- 
enues are derived, usually in smaller 
amount, however, from tuition fees and 
local endowments. 

Endowed and Private Schools. 

Besides the schools under control of 
the public authorities, there are many 
excellent, well-managed endowed and 
private schools throughout the country, 





:'■. ; ■ .■■■;. 

• • • 






■•-■■/■.: 



PORTO BELLO HIGHER GRADE SCHOOL (EDINBURGH). 



Local Board. 
The local school board, created by pub- 
lic election for the sole purpose of manag- 
ing the schools, has certain powers 
exclusively its own. It must build and 
maintain the schools; appoint, promote, 
or discharge the teaching force; and 
within certain restricted limits, may 
make its own regulations for the man- 
agement of the schools directly under 
its charge. The local board has exclu- 
sive management of the funds derived 
from local taxation for school purposes. 



which enjoy a large revenue from their 
high tuition fees. 

Changes. 

Certain recent changes in the school 
system attracted the attention of Amer- 
ican visitors. Among the more impor- 
tant of these changes were the following : 

i. A measure recently adopted by the 
Privy Council which permits greater 
autonomy on the part of Scottish Uni- 
versities, and as a result, important 
changes in the curricula of these institu- 
tions are impending. 



14 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



ii. The passage by Parliament on 
December 21, 1908, of a new measure 
relating to the educational affairs of 
Scotland solely, and known as the 
Education [Scotland] Act, 1908. This 
act went into effect eleven days after its 
passage, or January 1, 1909. It extends 
the general powers of the local board, 
and makes specific provision for the 
following: For medical inspection, for the 
education of children either mentally or 
physically defective, for the care and 
education of neglected children, addi- 
tional funds for the universities and 
consequent closer affiliation of the uni- 
versities with the Scotch Education De- 
partment. It also fixes the age of com- 
pulsory education at from five to four- 
teen years, except in the case of defective 
children, when the limit is raised to 
sixteen years. It likewise amends the 
previous law, regulates tenure of office 
for teachers, besides treating of numer- 
ous other phases of Scotch education. 

Hi. A radical change in the control 
of the training colleges for teachers, 
whereby these institutions have passed 
from the control of the Presbyterian 
Church to that of the State, resulting in 
a certain voice in the affairs of the 
Scotch universities by the Scotch Educa- 
tion Department. 

iv. The recent acceptance by a large 
number of older and wealthier private 
and endowed schools which had hitherto 
remained wholly independent, of aid at 
the hands of the Scotch Education De- 
partment, and thus placing themselves 
under public control to a greater or less 
extent. 

SECONDARY SCHOOLS. 

Length of Course. 

An English school recognized as a 
secondary school must make provision 
beyond the elementary school course for 
the suitable education of pupils from 
twelve to sixteen or seventeen years of 



age. 1 The secondary school course must 
be four years in length, except in rural 
districts where, for good and sufficient 
reasons offered in certain specific in- 
stances, the course may be but three 
years.* 

Elementary Departments. 
With the exception, possibly, of cer- 
tain individual cases, it is expected, if 
not actually required, that the secondary 
school have a lower grade department, 
corresponding to the ordinary elemen- 
tary school.** 

Curriculum. 

The secondary course of study must 
include instruction in each of the follow- 
ing subjects : The English language and 
literature, at least one other language 
besides English, geography, history, 
mathematics, science, and drawing. 
Pupils may take this course without 
taking either Latin or Greek. Physical 
culture is required, and the instruction 
in science must include practical work 
by the pupils. Special provision may 
be made for individual pupils or for 
special classes. Girls over fifteen years 
of age may substitute a course in domes- 
tic science, including housewifery, for 
science. | 

Here it may not be inappropriate to 
say that one girls' secondary school 
which I visited, I found provided with a 
very attractive lunch room — really a 
dining hall — where all the teachers and 
pupils gathered for luncheon. There 
was served a wholesome, substantial 
hot luncheon, at a very reasonable price, 
to such as desired it. Those who pre- 
ferred to do so, brought their own 
luncheon, and ate it in the common 
dining hall. The dining hall and ad- 
joining kitchen are furnished by the 

i Throughout Great Britain, pupils appear to be 
promoted from one grade to another on a basis of age, 
rather than according to any standard of scholastic 
attainment. 

*Vid. Red Code, 1908. pp. 100-101, §§1-3. 

** Ibid., p. 101, §1. 

t Ibid., p. 102-103, §6-10. 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



15 



education authorities. Then a commit- 
tee of teachers undertake the manage- 
ment of this department. They employ 
a cook and other necessary help, and 
purchase the requisite supplies from 
the income, and after paying for break- 
age and other depreciation of the plant, 
the remaining profit — for there is a 
profit — forms a special fund for the pur- 
chase of such supplies for the school as 
may not be available from the school 
apportionment of the public funds. 

A secondary school for girls must be 
under the charge of a mistress. 

Teachers Members of School Boards. 

It appears to be a common practice 
to make teachers in secondary schools 
members of the local governing body of 
the school. 

TENDENCY OF BRITISH EDUCATION. 

Utilitarian. 

While these regulations apply with 
particular force to English and Welsh 
schools, for the purposes of this report, 
they will apply to Scottish schools as 
well, as indicating the tendency of 
British education to adapt itself to the 
purely utilitarian needs of the children 
under its tuition. 

Socialistic. 
Indeed, I am profoundly impressed 
that the entire tendency of what from 
an American standpoint, we may fairly 
call the public school education of Great 
Britain, is to exalt the practical side of 
education — the side which can be di- 
rectly converted into coin of the realm, 
and to minimize as far as possible the 
purely culture side. It seems to be the 
long desired reply to the oft-repeated 
cry of socialism heard throughout Eng- 
land for the past thirty years, demand- 
ing that "workingmen elect their own 
school board and burn all the foolish 
reading-books at present in use, and 
abolish spelling as a part of education, 



and teach the things necessary for all 
trades. "J 

This phase of British education will 
receive further consideration in the 
subsequent treatment of trade schools. 

SPECIAL SCHOOLS. 

In London, special schools are main- 
tained for the blind, the deaf, and for 
the mentally defective, and the physi- 
cally defective children. Several schools 
are maintained for each of these classes, 
and the Education Committee of the 
County Council frankly avow that the 
most difficult group to manage success- 
fully is that of the mentally deficient. 
Not only are the problems which they 
present most difficult of solution, but 
their numbers as compared with the 
other groups of this class — the blind, 
the deaf, and physically deficient — are 
far in excess of all those of the other 
three groups combined. 

Schools for Blind. 

In the schools for the blind, among 
the various trades taught are the follow- 
ing: Chair-caning, cane and willow 
basket-making, hand and machine knit- 
ting, sewing and mat-making. Atten- 
tion is likewise paid to manual training 
in wood work and in iron work. In- 
struction is given in gymnastics and 
swimming, and outdoor games are 
encouraged. One of these schools pub- 
lishes a magazine, the articles for which 
are written first by the pupils of the 
school in Braille — a form of writing used 
by the blind — and then copied on the 
typewriter, after which the boys in one 
of the industrial schools do the printing. 

The curriculum, in outline, is as fol- 
lows: 

The English Language, including speaking; 
with clear articulation and enunciation, read- 
ing, literature, writing, composition, and 
recitation. 

Arithmetic, including mental arithmetic 

+ Vid., e. g., Besant's All Sorts and Condition?, of Men 
Chap, xlix, et saepe. 



16 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



and practical knowledge of money, weights 
and measures. > 

Knowledge of common things, including 
nature study and observation lessons. 

History. 

Geography. 

Singing and music, including training in 
proper breathing. 

Physical exercises. 

Plain needlework (for girls.) 

Manual instruction (not less than four hours 
a week.) 

Schools for Deaf. 

In the schools for the deaf, industrial 
training forms the principal feature of 
the instruction. The trades taught in- 
clude the following: Cabinet-making, 
tailoring, and boat-making for the boys. 
The following are open to the girls: 
Dressmaking and laundry work. Special 
attention is given to outdoor games, 
gardening, and physical training. The 
boys have cricket and football clubs and 
attend the swimming baths. 

The curriculum for these schools, in- 
cludes the following: 

The English Language, to be taught by the 
oral method where possible, and to include 
reading, writing, composition, and the study 
of literary matter. 

Arithmetic, including practical knowledge 
of money, weights, and measures. 

Knowledge of common things, including 
nature study and observation lessons. 

History. 

Geography. 

Physical exercises, including training in 
proper breathing. 

Plain needlework (for girls.) 

Manual instruction (not less than four hours 
a week.) 

Schools for Mentally Defective. 
The schools for the mentally defective 
are by no means so well developed as 
those for the blind and deaf. The more 
difficult problems which the former pre- 
sent, require, of necessity, that their 
growth be much more cautious and 
slow, since in a far more complete sense 
does each pupil present an individual 
problem than do the pupils of the schools 



for the blind, deaf, and physically de- 
fective, and in a correspondingly greater 
degree must the teacher exercise pa- 
tience, closely applied acute observation, 
and versatility, in meeting the needs of 
the various members of her unfortunate 
class. 

London has no fewer than twenty- 
eight of these schools which appear to be 
conducted on rational scientific princi- 
ples. The Drury Lane School for the 
Mentally Deficient which I visited, has 
the reputation of being one of the 
best of this class, and the quality of 
the results attained would indicate 
that the reputation is well deserved. 
This school, conducted in the same 
building as the Drury Lane Industrial 
Day Training School, consists of two 
classes — one for boys and one for 
girls, — in charge of two teachers ad- 
mirably adapted to their work. These 
teachers are wholly different from each 
other in temperament, but in the best 
sense represent two well-nigh ideal types 
of teachers for such a school. One is 
quiet and wholly unobtrusive, but per- 
sistent, inspiring the confidence of the 
unfortunate boys under her charge, and 
thus acquiring an influence over them 
which enables her successfully to insist 
upon each boy's doing the best he 
possibly can. The other teacher, full of 
abounding life and vivacity, fairly com- 
pels the girls of her class by the contagion 
of her spirit and example, to put forth 
every possible effort of which their 
meagre mentality is capable, to grasp 
the meaning of the life of the busy won- 
der-world confined within the walls of 
their classroom. At a certain very 
elementary stage of her school life, an 
appeal, promptly responded to, is made 
to every girl by giving her a doll, the 
making of the clothes for which,together 
with its dressing and care, forms the 
foundation for the manual work which 
is so strongly emphasized here. The 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



17 



girls are allowed the use of a sewing 
machine when they have advanced 
sufficiently with their work. 

With the boys, various forms of 
manual training are tried, and every 
practicable device is used for their appli- 
cation, so as to find, if possible, some- 
thing which appeals to each boy. In 
the course of time, the larger number of 
pupils, both boys and girls, grasp and 



and cheery as possible with appropriate 
pictures, and with flowers and plants. 
Considerable attention is paid to the 
germination of the latter. 

The children are fed here, a pot of 
soup being in readiness for serving at 
the time of my visit. 

Of all the classroom work which I 
saw during my entire tour of observa- 
tion, the most interesting to me was in 




GOODRICH ROAD SCHOOL FOR THE MENTALLY DEFECTIVE— BRUSHWORK. 



retain something of the elements of an 
education — a little reading and writing, 
and, in some cases, a trifle of the funda- 
mental operations of arithmetic, and 
the most of them learn enough of manual 
and industrial work to make them small 
wage earners, and thus relieve the State 
of the burden of supporting them all 
their lives. 

The school rooms are made as bright 



this Drury Lane school for the mental 
defectives; and here, too, I saw the. most 
skillful teaching of all I saw in Great 
Britain. 

Schools for the Physically Defective. 

The schools for the physically defec- 
tive are, in the last analysis, really ortho- 
paedic hospitals equipped for instruc- 
tion in such portions of the ordinary 
elementary school course as the physical 



18 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



condition of the individual patient will 
permit. The course of instruction in- 
cludes, besides the ordinary studies, 
manual training adapted to the needs of 
the patient-pupil, and to its physical 
ability to perform it. Instruction is pro- 
vided 'for children who are confined in 
hospitals temporarily, so that they will 
not lose their respective places in class 
at school, but after a cure is effected 
and they are discharged from the hos- 
pital, they may return to school and 
resume their former places as if they 
had not been absent from class at all. 

Reformatory and Industrial Schools. 

The London County Council's Educa- 
tion Committee does not aDDear to have 
any purely reformatory schools under 
its direct charge. It makes contracts, 
however, with the governing bodies of 
such other institutions of that kind as it 
can advantageously, to take the neces- 
sary care of offenders against the law, 
coming within the jurisdiction of the 
Education Committee and committed by 
due process of law to reformatories. 
This contract not only provides for the 
necessary physical care and well being 
of the offender, and for the requisite 
corrective measures, but for the actual 
education of the offender as well. 

Industrial Schools. 
The Education Committee of the 
County Council has several Industrial 
Schools under its direct management, 
and has agreements with the managers 
of several others for the care and educa- 
tion of such boys and girls as may be 
committed to these several institutions 
from the jurisdiction of the London 
County Council. 

Truant Industrial Schools. 
Truant Industrial Schools are resi- 
dential industrial schools for boys com- 
mitted for non-attendance at elementary 
schools. The number of boys com- 



mitted to these schools has decreased as 
the severity of the fine imposed for non- 
attendance at school has been increased. 
The comparatively few girl truants with 
whom it has been found necessary to 
deal, are committed to ordinary indus- 
trial schools. 

Day Industrial Schools. 
Day industrial schools are described 
by the statutory law under which they 
were established, as follows: 

Schools in which industrial training, ele- 
mentary education, and one or more meals a 
day, but not lodging, are provided for the 
children. Children may be committed until 
they reach the age of fourteen years, but in 
no case may they be detained for a longer 
period than three years. 

Ungraded Schools. 
The ungraded schools of our own city 
do not seem to have an exact counter- 
part in the school system of London. 
The Truant and Day Industrial schools 
appear to include the features of our un- 
graded school, but do not present them 
quite in that form. 

Scope of Work in Industrial Schools. 

At the foregoing industrial schools of 
all classes, the children generally devote 
one-half of their time to school room 
work, and the other half to some indus- 
trial pursuit. The lower grade primary 
classes, however, attend school full time. 

History and Methods of Day Industrial 
Schools. 

Concerning the origin, nature, and 
methods of work of the Day Industrial 
schools, the following extract from a 
special report of the executive officer of 
the London County Council's Education 
Committee may be of interest: 

The present Day Industrial Schools had 
their origin in the Ragged Feeding Schools, 
the first having been started in Aberdeen in 
the year 1841. Between 1845 and 1850 this 
example was followed in many of the great 
cities of England by philanthropists who in 
some cases received monetary support from 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



19 



the Committee of Council on Education. 
It was not until the passing of the Elemen- 
tary Education Act, 1876, that these schools 
were officially recognized as schools "in which 
industrial training, elementary education, 
and one or more meals a day, but not lodging, 
are provided for the children." Under the 
powers contained in Section 16 of this Act, 
Orders in Council have been issued (20th 
March, 1877, and 25th October, 1881) making 
regulations for the constitution and conduct 
of such schools, denning the class of children 
to be sent to them, fixing the rate of parental 



to fifty-two shillings a year for cases under an 
order of detention, and to twenty-six shillings 
a year in attendance order and voluntary 
cases. 

The descriptions of children for whom these 
schools are particularly suitable are : — 

1. Children of negligent parents upon 
whom the ordinary fines under the Education 
Acts have no effect. 

2. Children of parents who are unable, 
owing to their occupations, which require 
them to leave their homes very early in the 
morning, to secure the attendance at an or- 




&$& 







- 
* . 1 



PURBROOK INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL— HAYMAKING. 



contributions and the rate of Government 
grant, and dealing generally with all other 
matters pertaining to the establishment, 
maintenance, and management of the schools. 
In cases sent under an order of detention, the 
parental contributions are fixed at a sum of 
not exceeding two shillings a week; and in 
those sent under an attendance order, or with- 
out an order of the Court (the latter being 
known as voluntary cases), at a sum not less 
than one shilling, nor more than two shillings 
a week. The Treasurv contributions amount 



dinary day school of their children who may 
thereby become disobedient or neglected. 

3. Children whose parents belong to the 
extremely improvident class and who are 
greatly neglected by them. 

4. Children of intemperate parents where 
the father may be in receipt of good wages, but 
where the children are neglected. 

5. Children who are running the streets, 
or begging, but whom it is undesirable and 
unnecessary to send to a residential school. 



20 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



6. Children who have committed petty 
thefts, but who are not regular thieves. 

7. Children who are charged by their 
parents with being beyond control. 

Speaking generally, Day Industrial Schools 
are for troublesome children whose homes, 
however poor, are decent, and for children 
who are falling into bad and irregular habits 
through the want of proper supervision. They 
are not for the vicious or wandering child, nor 
for the persistent truant. 

The curriculum differs, in extent only, from 
that of the ordinary Residential Industrial 
School, and consists of school work and in- 
dustrial training in equal proportions, to- 
gether with the usual recreation. 

Wherever these schools have been estab- 
lished the general results have been decidedly 
good, necessarily varying with the locality and 
also with the policy and attitude of the local 
authority by whom they are maintained. 
The childrenjmake rapid progress with their 
school work and industrial training, especially 
having regard to the unfavorable condition of 
mental and physical backwardness in which 
they are usually admitted. 

Owing probably to an insufficient acquaint- 
ance with the subject, the value of the work 
done in Day Industrial Schools is not generally 
appreciated. It is frequently contended that 
inasmuch as the children return each evening 
to their undesirable associations in the streets 
and to the often more objectionable surround- 
ings in their homes, the effect of the school, if 
not entirely neutralized, is greatly diminished. 
For such opinions there is prima facie, plaus- 
ible justification. As a matter of fact, how- 
ever, actual experience has proved that the 
conclusion is not sustained. If no discrimina- 
tion were exercised in the selection of cases 
committed to these schools doubtless many of 
them would be failures. It has been stated, 
however, that children are not sent from 
vicious or immoral homes, and with regard to 
other homes, many of them wretched and 
comfortless through thriftless and careless 
habits, it has, in numerous instances, been 
found that the training of the child and its 
acquisition of habits of cleanliness, order, and 
regularity have had a beneficial influence upon 
the home. The children, in fact, have re- 
formed the home and improved the habits of 
the parents. With regard to the evil in- 
fluences of the streets, it has to be recognized 
that they are no worse for the Day Industrial 
School child than for the elementary school 
child. 



The following extracts from reports of 
Government Inspectors are strongly in favor 
of the Day Industrial School system for suit- 
able children: — 

His Majesty's Inspector in his report for 
1902 says: — "This class of school is so valua- 
ble an engine of social amelioration that it is a 
pity if any large town is without one, or, 
having one, allows it to languish solely for 
want of a proper appreciation of its function 
and merits. * * * For industrial training 
and effective disposal the London schools are 
still pre-eminent." 

Again, in 1905, His Majesty's Inspector 
says: — "The number of admissions to Day 
Industrial Schools still shows a slight tendency 
to decline. * * * This result is disap- 
pointing when the value of these schools as 
perhaps the most effective instruments of 
social amelioration in the poor quarters of our 
large towns is fully considered. * * * 

"It may be that the matter of expense, to 
which attention has been called in more than 
one of recent reports, may have militated 
against a more general use of Day Industrial 
Schools, but it is doubtful whether any muni- 
cipal outlay would have a more genuine title 
to be called profitable. Be this as it may, the 
fact that the financial question has not been 
effectively raised by any local authority may 
be fairly regarded as a mark of the general 
apathy with regard to a difficult, but not 
insoluble, problem. 

Drury Lane Industrial School. 

The Drury Lane Day Industrial School 
which I visited for observation has an 
attendance of some seventy boys and 
four or five girls. The school is open 
for the reception of pupils at six o'clock 
in the morning and does not close until 
six o'clock in the evening. Besides the 
usual studies pursued in the elementary 
schools the boys are taught certain 
trades, such as shoe-making, carpentry, 
and printing. They are also taught 
band music and allowed to play in the 
excellent band made up of the pupils 
of the school with their instructor. The 
girls are now taught sewing and were 
formerly taught laundry work. But it 
was found that the laundry shops where 
the girls were usually employed after 



22 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



leaving school were apt to be nurseries of 
vice where the girls were soon initiated 
into lives of shame; so that instruction 
in laundry work has been abandoned in 
the school, and the room formerly used 
for that purpose is to be converted into 
a department for teaching the boys 
metal work, since the neighborhood in 
which the school is situated, abounds in 
the metal trades, and the governor, or 



fairly settled in his or her new environ- 
ment. 

The printing shop, though small, is 
equipped for the highest grade of fine 
job printing, and is in charge of an ex- 
pert printer, under whose tuition the 
boys execute highly satisfactory work. 
The pupils who come from a radius of a 
mile of the school, have three meals a 
day at the school. The care of the 



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WOMEN'S GYMNASIUM. 



head master, Thomas Humphrey, Esq., 
is strongly of the opinion that the indus- 
tries taught in the school should be those 
readily accessible to the homes of its 
pupils. When a pupil has served the 
required length of time in the school, 
and is ready to go to work, the governor 
seeks out a suitable place of employ- 
ment, and endeavors to keep track of 
the boy or girl until he or she is at least 



dining hall is entrusted largely to the 
pupils. When a pupil shows a certain 
degree of improvement, he is transferred 
to a regular elementary school; but if 
his conduct does not continue atisfac- 
tory, he is returned to the industrial 
school. 

I sought an opportunity to attend a 
session of court when delinquent chil- 
dren were presented for commitment to 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



23 



industrial schools, but in this I was 
disappointed. 

PHYSICAL CULTURE AND ATHLETICS. 

As might be expected, physical devel- 
opment receives much attention among 
the British. Not only are there physical 
exercises in the school room, but open 
air recesses when the teachers go out 
with the pupils and oversee the games. 
Well equipped gymnasiums with special 
instructors for boys and girls alike, are 
common, and swimming pools accom- 
pany some of the gymnasiums. In some 
of these the water is changed once a 
week. On almost every hand I heard 
the fear expressed that athletics are 
carried to too great a length in England, 
however. This feeling I found shared by 
the schoolman and thoughtful layman 
alike. 

HEAT AND VENTILATION OF SCHOOL 
BUILDINGS. 

Except in the more modern, expensive 
buildings, the almost universal method 
of heating school buildings in Great 
Britain is by means of the open fire- 
place, and the ventilation is through the 
windows — usually wide open. The av- 
erage temperature is supposed to be 
fifty-four degrees Fahrenheit, with a 
maximum of sixty degrees. One school 
which I visited where the building is of 
comparatively recent construction, the 
plans called for a heating plant for 
steam or hot water. As soon as the 
head master found what was to be done, 
he set about preventing the innovation. 
He was successful in having the regu- 
lation open fire places substituted for 
the original plant, and converted what 
was designed for a boiler room into an 
office. 

TRAINING OF TEACHERS. 

The training of teachers is a subject 
which has long been a serious problem 
with British educators. At the present 
time about two-thirds of the teachers of 



London have had the advantage of a 
course in a training college of recognized 
standing. The course in case of the 
most, but by no means all, of these 
teachers has been two years in length. 
A very few have had a course extending 
over three years or more. 

CONTROL OF TRAINING COLLEGES. 

The most of the training colleges 
throughout the United Kingdom have 
been established by independent organi- 
zations — generally by religious bodies, 
but the number of day training colleges 
attached to the universities is growing, 
and a recent act of Parliament allows 
local authorities to establish training 
colleges of their own. In Scotland, as 
previously pointed out, the control of 
the training colleges has passed from the 
hands of the Presbyterian Church into 
those of the public authorities. 

TRAINING COLLEGES IN LONDON. 

The London County Council is now 
in possession of seven training colleges 
which it has established under the new 
act. Of these, five are for women only, 
and two are for men and women. These 
colleges provide for the training of about 
nine hundred teachers each year, be- 
sides about ninety students the Council 
has the privilege of naming for admission 
to the Goldsmiths' College at New Cross 
every year. 

Length of Course. 

The training course, generally speak- 
ing, extends over a period of about two 
years, and consists of instruction in 
general educational subiects, including 
that of the theory and practice of teach- 
ing. A certain number of weeks are 
devoted to practice teaching under a 
critic teacher, who is a member of the 
training college staff. 

The course in the London Day Train- 
ing College is three years in length. The 
first two years are devoted to prepara- 
tion for the degree of Bachelor of Arts 



24 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



or Bachelor of Science in London Uni- 
versity, with which the college is affil- 
iated, and the third year is devoted, for 
the most part, to purely professional 
work. 

Complaint that Entrance to Teaching 
Profession is too Easy. 
The present tendency is for teachers 
to obtain university recognition before 
entering the profession. At the same 
time there is a feeling more or less gen- 
eral that access to the teaching profes- 
sion is too easy. 

Report of London Teachers' Association. 
The last report of the London Teach- 
ers' Association is pointed in this respect. 
After expressing satisfaction that the 
London County Council has taken cer- 
tain decisive steps toward the elimination 
of "student" and other "uncertificated" 
teachers from the London schools, the 
report continues: 

It is a fact, at any rate as far as London is 
concerned, that that which was known as the 
' dearth ' of teachers is now at an end. Inform- 
ation points to the fact that teachers cer- 
tificated last year, are still without permanent 
employment, and it is certain that many who 
came out of college last July will not be able to 
obtain appointments for months to come, 
either in London or the Provinces. Under 
these circumstances, therefore, the Committee 
feel that the opening of two new training 
colleges by the Council, which recently took 
place, is a matter of the gravest concern. It 
is certain that in two years' time the glut of 
teachers in an already overstocked market 
will be greater than ever, and it is unnecessary 
to state that circumstances of that character 
demand the utmost vigilance on the part of a 
professional organization. 

The report further states that the in- 
terests of women teachers, particularly, 
are threatened by this condition of 
affairs. But in other parts of England 
I found a scarcity of women teachers 
for secondary schools. Men there were 
in abundance, but eligible women for 
this class of work were difficult to find. 



MARRIED WOMEN AS TEACHERS. 

Report of London Teachers' Association. 

Touching the question of employment 
of married women in the schools of 
London, the report already cited of the 
London Teachers' Association contains 
the following interesting paragraph: 

It is possible that for the first time the 
employment of married women teachers may 
become a debatable matter in London educa- 
tional politics. Needless to say, the whole 
weight of the Association will be thrown into 
the conflict to prevent the displacement of 
married women teachers. Recognizing the 
professional diploma as the sole entrance to 
the teaching profession, the Association 
claims that neither sex nor religion should be 
any disability to service as a teacher, and the 
incident of marriage should be no bar to con- 
tinuation in the profession. 

Special Regulations for Married Women. 

Clearly, married women form an im- 
portant class of their own in the English 
schools, a fact which is definitely recogniz- 
ed by school authorities, who, in enacting 
regulations for the government of schools 
under their charge, make special rules 
for married women. This is especially 
true of the regulations governing con- 
tagious diseases, where married women 
teachers are recognized as a class dis- 
tinct from unmarried women and men. 
Certain other cases arise in which a code 
of detailed regulations apply to married 
women only. 

Husband and Wife Employed as Teachers 
in Same School. 
The employment of a man in the boys' 
department of a school in which his wife 
is a teacher in either the girls' depart- 
ment or infant department of the same 
school is by no means unknown. While 
I was in the office of the Secretary of the 
London Teachers' Association, a school- 
master came in seeking advice as to a 
method of procedure whereby he could 
compel the authorities to place his wife 
in the same school as himself, and cited 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



25 



instances in which that state of affairs 
existed. Indeed, I was informed by a 
gentleman well known in British educa- 
ional circles, that on the occasion of one 
of his visits to the schools of London, he 
found that in one of the schools, the wife 
of the head master of the boys' depart- 
ment was an assistant (teacher) in the 
infant department; and that the head 
of the infant department was the wife 
of a Board inspector, and that the head 
of the girls' department was the wife of 
a journalist. I found nothing so bad as 
that myself and doubt if such a condi- 
tion exists even in London today, where 
public sentiment is slowly awakening to 
the fact that such a plight of affairs is 
not wholly desirable. 

This Practice Not Universal in Great 
Britain. 

It should be observed that the exam- 
ple of London is not universal in Eng- 
land, nor is it emulated in the larger 
cities of Scotland. 

The rules of the Birkenhead Educa- 
tion Committee include the following : 

No married mistress shall be engaged upon 
the School Staffs without the special sanction 
of the Education Committee; and it shall be 
a condition in the employment of all mis- 
tresses that an engagement shall terminate 
on marriage. 

In Glasgow, there are but two married 
women teachers living with their hus- 
bands, in a total of about two thousand 
teachers. There are some six or seven 
widows. In Edinburgh there is about 
the same number of widows as in Glas- 
gow, and no married women living with 
their husbands, included in a total 
force of some eleven hundred teachers. 
Not only in this respect but in many 
others, the teaching profession and the 
cause of general education at large in 
Scotland is far in advance of that of 
England, resulting in a greater dignity 
for the profession, and a consequent 



higher rank for the profession in public 
esteem. 

Public Esteem in which Teaching Pro- 
fession is Held in England. 
One cannot well avoid the conviction 
after a little careful observation and in- 
quiry into existing conditions that 
hitherto the personnel of the teaching 
force of the schools throughout England 
has not received the consideration which 
it deserves, and that the advanced 
standards recently set up for the quali- 
fications of teachers is a move in the 
direction of elevating the teaching pro- 
fession of the country from the position 
of ill-concealed contempt in which it is 
far too widely held. 

DUTIES OF THE HEAD MASTER. 

General. 

According to the Elementary School 
Code, 1908, "Every school or depart- 
ment must have a head teacher, who 
shall be held responsible for the general 
control of the instruction and disci- 
pline." 

In addition to the mechanical organi- 
zation of the school as a whole, including 
assignment of assistant teachers, etc., 
the head teacher, or head master, pre- 
pares a time schedule, or programme, 
for the entire school, including each 
separate class; orders all the text -books, 
stationery, and other supplies for the 
school; and devotes himself to the gen- 
eral welfare of his school. 

Preparation of Syllabus. 

The preparation of the syllabus is a 
supreme test of the pedagogical skill of 
the head master. Formerly, this was 
prepared in the Board of Education 
offices of the Imperial Government, as 
it is now prepared in the office of our 
city superintendent, and sent out to the 
various schools, where it was merely the 
duty of the head master to see that its 
provisions were carried out. 

But this method of procedure did not 



26 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



appeal to the spirit of independence of 
the British school master, who is very 
jealous of his prerogatives. So that 
eventually, this uniform syllabus was 
abolished, and merely the subjects of 
the curriculum made uniform, and the 
problem of making the syllabus com- 
mitted to the individual head master, 
who, after its preparation, submits it to 
the government for approval. 

Advantages of Present Plan. 

The superior advantages of this plan 
are believed to be two, primarily. 

First : A largely increased professional 
freedom of the head master, with a con- 
sequent incentive to pedagogical initia- 
tive and growth, which were rendered 
impracticable under the former plan. 

Second: Adaptation of the course of 
study to the immediate needs of the 
individual school. 

Disadvantages. 

Against the present plan is often, urged 
the objection that for want of uniformity 
of instruction in different schools, it 
happens that children removing from 
one school to another suffer unduly. 
This objection is declared by the head 
masters and their superiors, however, 
to be so slight as to become a negligible 
quantity when compared with the ad- 
vantages of the present plan. Indeed, 
it is asserted by many, that there is no 
actual loss, whatever, from the present 
plan over the former. 

Ordering Supplies. 

The freedom granted by the syllabus 
is strongly accentuated by a correspond- 
ing freedom allowed in the ordering of 
text-books and other school supplies, 
the latter being made possible by a very 
full, open list, anything on which may 
be ordered by the head master, so long as 
he keeps within the bounds of the appro- 
priation, or yearly allowance, made to 
his school for that purpose. 



Head Master Not Required to Teach. 

Nowhere did I find any formal re- 
quirement that the head master should 
do any classroom teaching at all. On 
the contrary, he is left absolutely free 
to treat that question as the needs of his 
school, in his own good judgment, may 
require. 

PICTURES. 

A "Requisition List of Framed Pic- 
tures" is provided by the London County 
Council, from which pictures may be 
ordered by head masters in the same 
manner as books, stationery, and other 
supplies. 

Whenever a new building is opened, 
it is supplied with pictures throughout 
at once, and additions may be made 
subsequently, according to the judgment 
of the head master. 

The authorized list of framed pictures 
in London includes pictures under the 
following general subjects: Animals, 
birds, etc.; Bible pictures; castles, 
architecture, and historical buildings; 
cathedrals, churches, abbeys, etc.; chil- 
dren's pictures and friezes; great mas- 
ters; historical pictures; landscapes, 
portraits; sculpture, etc.; seascapes, 
coast views, river scenes, etc.; miscel- 
laneous. 

These range in price from two shil- 
lings, ten pence, for an attractive but 
inexpensive print, seventeen inches by 
twenty- five inches, in a neat frame, to 
twenty-five shillings, two pence, for a 
bromide enlargement, thirty-seven inch- 
es wide by forty-seven inches in length. 
Frames, twenty-six inches wide by thirty- 
three inches long, are supplied at three 
shillings, seven pence, each, for holding 
several pictures of uniform size, costing 
nine pence each. 

LONDON UNIVERSITY. 

Possibly there is no other university 
in Great Britain which touches so inti- 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



mately the great masses of people as 
London University. 

The history of this institution dates 
back to 1827, but not until nine years 
ago did it become more than an exami- 
ining body, granting university recog- 
nition to those who presented themselves 
for examination. 

An act of Parliament in 1898, pro- 
vided for the complete reorganization of 
the university. This was accomplished 
in the years 1900-1901, when the new 
corporation, controlling and co-ordinat- 
ing the higher education of London, 
began its active labors. 

The new organization comprises, in 
addition to its examining functions, a 
considerable number of schools pre- 
viously more or less independent as 
teaching bodies. These include, with 
others, University College and King's 
College with general faculties, some half 
dozen theological schools, several with 
faculties of arts and sciences, a consider- 
able number of medical colleges, besides 
technological and agricultural institu- 
tions, and the recently established Lon- 
don School of Economics and Political 
Science. 

Every institution represented in the 
university is entitled to a representative 
in the governing body. The University 
continues its function as an examining 
body granting degrees. The examina- 
tions are given in London, the provinces, 
and even in the Colonies. All graduates 
are entitled to a teacher's diploma. 

UNIVERSITY EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 

Women were admitted to degrees in 
London University, in the year 1878. 
Since the year 1884, women have been 
admitted to instruction in Oxford 
University, but not to degrees. Women 
are also admitted to Cambridge Uni- 
versity upon the same footing as at 
Oxford. At present, the admission of 



women to the university is general 
throughout Great Britain. 

There is still division of opinion in 
England as to the higher education of 
women. The most vital objection I 
heard urged, is the strong tendency to 
Bohemian life in the universities. It is 
seriously charged that the growth of the 
habit of cigarette smoking among En- 
glish women receives a marked impetus 
at these institutions. 

teachers' organizations. 
National Union of Teachers. 

Of the various teachers' organiza- 
tions, the National Union of Teachers, 
for England and Wales, numbering up- 
wards of 62,000 members is the largest. 
Its main objects as set forth in its official 
publications are as follows : 

To associate and unite the teachers of the 
country, to provide a means of the expression 
of their collective opinion upon matters af- 
fecting the interests of education and the 
profession, to improve the condition of educa- 
tion, and to obtain a national system, to 
secure the official representation of educa- 
tional interests in Parliament, to raise the 
qualifications and status of teachers, to watch 
the administration of Education Acts, to 
endeavor to secure the removal of difficulties, 
abuses, and obsolete regulations detrimental 
to progress, and to afford advice and assistance 
to its members in educational and professional 
matters. 

The members of the organization sup- 
port a Benevolent and Orphan Fund for 
which they raised upwards of $100,000 
in 1907, which supported, among its 
charities, a Girls' Home at Sheffield, and 
a Boys' Home at Sydenham. 

Affiliated Local Organizations. 

Affiliated with the National Union are 
nearly five hundred local organizations, 
scattered throughout the country. All 
these work in harmony with the central 
union. 

London Teachers' Association. 
The largest and most important is that 



28 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



of the London Teachers' Association of 
nearly fifteen thousand members. The 
activities of this body include among 
others, the following: Professional help 
to its members, the publication of a 
monthly periodical entitled the London 
Teacher, a mutual insurance fund, a 
readers' club with exceptionable library 
privileges, co-operative arrangements for 
holiday travel by which it is estimated 
that upwards of $10,000 a year is saved 
to the members of the Association, a 
co-operative trading scheme by which 
wholesale rates are secured to the mem- 
bers by special contract with representa- 
tive establishments in all branches of 
commerce, and expert medical advice 
for its members at greatly reduced fees. 

Educational Institute of Scotland. 
In Scotland, the principal professional 
organization is the Educational Institute 
of Scotland. This is something more 
than a mere teachers' association. It is 
organized under a royal charter and 
possesses certain privileges of educa- 
tional organization which enable it to 
contribute to the vital educational life 
of Scotland. This, like the National 
Union of Teachers of England and 
Wales, has a large number of subordin- 
ate, or affiliated, branches throughout 
the country. 

The British Schoolmaster in Politics. 

Apparently the phase of activity of all 
these organizations accentuated most, is 
the one which we would call the political 
side. In pursuance of this, the secretary 
of each of these organizations previously 
named, holds some government posi- 
tion, either local or national, which 
identifies him closely with the Imperial 
Government or with the governing 
bodies controlling the administration of 
the schools. For example, Mr. Yoxall, 
secretary of the National Union of 
Teachers is a member of Parliament, 
from the constituency of West Notting- 



hamshire. The expenses incidental to 
the campaign for his election are borne 
by the National Union of Teachers. As 
a member of Parliament, he is expected 
to give particular attention to all legis- 
lation proposed, relating to the schools 
in England and Wales. In fact, he is in 
Parliament in the avowed interest of 
the teachers. 

Mr. Gautrey, Secretary of the London 
Teachers' Association, is in like manner 
a member of the London County Council 
and assigned to the Education Commit- 
tee of that body. In his official capacity 
he represents, directly, the partisan in- 
terests of the members of the London 
Teachers' Association. 

Mr. Murray, Secretary of the Educa- 
tional Institute of Scotland, is also in 
like manner a member of the Edinburgh 
School Board, and there looks after the 
interests of the Edinburgh teachers. 
Other members of these Associations 
occupy positions upon the governing 
boards of educational institutions 
throughout the country. 

Absence of Bribery. 

In this connection, I may say that, 
while the teachers of Great Britain 
openly and avowedly seek to protect 
and further their personal interests in 
the manner just described — a manner 
which, to put it lightly, seems very 
strange to Americans, I did not, on the 
other hand, find evidence of corrupt 
practices, constantly charged as preva- 
lent in this country, prevailing to any 
appreciable extent, if at all. Political 
patronage may be said to be fairly well 
intrenched in school circles throughout 
Great Britain, but the use of money for 
bribery, or the custom of "graft," or 
"rake oris" in connection with school 
contracts I found no trace of, although 
I made careful inquiry into the commer- 
cial side of school affairs. 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



29 



CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 

The practice of corporal punishment, 
I found practically universal, but hedged 
about with certain safeguards and re- 
strictions which carefully protect it 
from abuse. This punishment is slight, 
administered on the hand by a cane 
supplied by the governing body upon 
the requisition of the head master, the 
same as any other school supplies. A 
careful record is required to be kept of 



ENDOWED PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

One of the most interesting exper- 
iences I had was with the so-called great 
endowed public schools — Eton, Harrow, 
Rugby, and Charterhouse. I applied by 
letter to the head master of each of these 
schools for permission to visit them, 
asking that a day be appointed for the 
purpose, making clear that the main 
object of such a visit would be to ob- 
serve the actual classroom work. From 




ROYAL HIGH SCHOOL OF EDINBURGH. 



all punishments, which is open to the 
inspection of the inspectors or other 
visitors to the school. That the effect 
of such punishment is good is apparent 
everywhere. Even in schools where 
corporal punishment is not resorted to, 
the head master would deplore the loss 
of the right to inflict it upon occasion if 
needed. The very fact that the pupils 
know it may be used has an influence 
for good upon them. 



Harrow and Rugby, I received prompt 
replies cordially inviting me to visit 
the schools and inspect the buildings 
and grounds, but saying that visitors 
were not permitted in the classrooms 
during recitations. From Eton and 
Charterhouse, I received communica- 
tions granting me the desired privilege. 

i Unless specifically indicated to the contrary else- 
where in this report in speaking of public schools in Great 
Britain, the County Council, or Board, Schools, or their 
equivalent, are referred to and not the class of schools 
which are here spoken of as public schools. 



30 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



For reasons over which I had no control, 
I was unable to visit Charterhouse, but 
my visit to Eton was a most delightful 
one. I also spent a pleasant day at 
the Birkenhead School, modeled after 
these schools, but of much more recent 
origin. Schools like these are unknown 
in this country, with a very few possible 
exceptions, of which the one at Groton, 
Massachusetts, is the most notable. 

It should be borne in mind that En- 
glish schools of this type take the place, 
not only of the elementary and high 
schools in this country, but in a certain 
way, of our colleges also, for the English 
system of education, like those of Euro- 
pean countries generally, does not have 
the exact equivalent of the American col- 
lege. However, a boy finishing his 
course at Eton, or Harrow, for example, 
may be regarded, from an American 
standpoint, as having graduated from 
college, and ready to enter upon grad- 
uate, or university work properly so- 
called, but there the baccalaureate 
degree is not awarded until the comple- 
tion of a university course. 

Nevertheless, despite the criticisms 
that might be passed upon these schools, 
not only from an American point of 
view, but by many English people as 
well — oftentimes those who have been 
educated in them, or those who have 
been associated with them as masters — 
the fact remains that from these schools 
came the men who are now, and those 
who are to be in the future, the virile 
flower of English civilization. The 
classical teaching in these schools is the 
best in England, and the school life is 
unique. 

MEDICAL INSPECTION. 

Just at this time medical inspection is 
receiving particular attention through- 
out Great Britain. Recent legislation 
has made it possible to extend the scope 
of the work and to provide for its being 
done more thoroughly than heretofore. 



Now Compulsory. 

While the act of 1907 makes medical 
inspection compulsory in England from 
January 1, 1908, there were some forty- 
seven localities outside of London which 
took advantage of a previous act per- 
mitting such inspection, so that when the 
new act with its mandatory provisions 
became operative, there was sufficient 
literature upon the subject, based upon 
English experience, to furnish a working 
basis for its general extension. 

Dr. Hackworth Stuart, medical officer 
to the Hanley Education Committee, in 
a brief treatise, recently published, 
based upon several years' experience in 
medical inspection of schools makes the 
following pointed observation: 

In working out a satisfactory scheme it 
is needful to keep in view primary objects 
and not be tempted unduly to enlarge the 
field of investigation, to the sacrifice of any 
part of that vast amount of definite practical 
work which lies close at hand and calls for 
immediate attention. 

He further says: 

One of the foremost objects of a sound scheme 
is that of bringing home to the parents their 
responsibilities, when physical defects occur 
in the children. [The italics are his.] 

He is of the opinion, however, that 

At present any satisfactory scheme must 
give place to the compilation of statistics for 
anthropometric survey, as compared with the 
practical aim of securing relief from physical 
defects which render children unfit for school 
life and cause waste of public money. 

He then proceeds to outline a form of 
index card for the purpose of compiling 
this information, which, in its general 
scope, is similar to that recently adopted 
in this city. A like form is in use 
throughout Great Britain, with varia- 
tions as to details to fit the needs of 
different localities. 

AMERICAN INFLUENCES UPON BRITISH 
EDUCATION. 

Evidences are not wanting of the in- 
fluence of American education upon that 
of England and Scotland. 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



31 



American Text-Books. 
American text-books are finding their 
way into British schools. One well- 
known American publishing house, 
handling text-books for schools and 
colleges almost exclusively, has already 
built up a thriving business in Great 
Britain; and other houses, doing a gen- 
eral publishing business, with branches 
on both sides of the ocean, are success- 
fully introducing their American text- 
books for schools on the other side. 

Pedagogical Books. 

Two American pedagogical books 
which I heard spoken of in terms of 
highest praise, are the Evolution of 
Dodd, by William Hawley Smith, and 
Jean Mitchell's School, by Angelina W. 
Wray. 

Longfellow, Washington, etc. 

Longfellow is a great favorite with all 
British people, and in places it almost 
seemed as if more attention had been 
paid to his poetry than to that of any 
British author. 

In one school which I visited in Swan- 
sea, the head master had a class of boys 
sing Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean for 
me in a very spirited manner. In the 
same school, I found General Washing- 
ton selected along with the Duke of 
Wellington and General Gordon, as the 
three finest examples of manhood and 
gentle, well-bred courtesy. 
American Fads. 

Then again "American fads, " as they 
are styled, were spoken of constantly, 
with the remark, as I think I have pre- 
viously pointed out, that about once in 
eighteen months a new one makes its 
appearance. 

INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 

Institutions Visited. 
Industrial training is one of the burn- 
ing topics in British education. In con- 
nection with this phase of the work, I 
visited the Shoreditch Technical Insti- 



tute, the Central School of Arts and 
Crafts in Southampton Row, and 
the Polytechnic School in Regent 
Street in London; the Central Technical 
School in Liverpool; the Municipal 
School of Technology in Manchester; the 
Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical 
College in Glasgow; and the Municipal 
Trade School, or Stadtischen Gewerbe- 
schule, in Munich. 

Shoreditch Technical Institute in London. 

The Shoreditch Technical Institute 
has been established some ten years and 
is situated among a class of people for 
whose needs it was intended, but whom 
the school has signally failed to reach. 
This fact is greatly deplored by the 
director, Mr. Shadrack Hicks, who 
frankly avows that the Institute literally 
is not of the people among whom it 
stands. This, be it remembered, is by 
no means saying that the school is not 
doing good, efficient work, but I do 
mean to say that the class of people 
whom its founders and organizers hoped 
to reach have not been attracted to it. 

Its evening departments, which is by 
far its largest feature, embraces, among 
others, the following subjects: Cabinet- 
making and allied trades; building and 
other trades; and, for women, cooking, 
upholstery, trade dressmaking, design- 
ing and making of ready-made clothing, 
with a department for training teachers 
in dressmaking and millinery. 

Central School of Arts and Crafts in 
London. 

The Central School of Arts and Crafts 
on Southampton Row, was established 
some twelve years ago in another part 
of the city, and has only very recently 
been installed in its new home. This 
gives instruction in the following general 
groups: Architecture and building 
crafts; silversmiths' work and allied 
crafts; book production; cabinet work 
and furniture; drawing, design and 



32 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



modelling; needlework; stained glass 
work, mosaic and decorative painting. 
I may say, in passing, that in the cabi- 
net shop of this school, I saw the finest 
artificial light for the purpose, I have 
ever seen. It was a reflected light, and 
threw no perceptible shadow. 

London Polytechnic School. 
The Polytechnic School in Regent 
Street, in addition to its schools of arts 
and crafts, offers a general line of tech- 
nical courses in almost every subject, 



sheet, plate and bar metal workers, 
plumbers; carpenters and joiners; house 
painters and decorators. 

Manchester Municipal School of 
Technology. 
The Manchester Municipal School of 
Technology, established eighty-five 
years ago in a very modest way, has 
grown and developed into a magnificent 
plant, luxuriously housed and lavishly 
equipped in two buildings, at an aggre- 
gate cost of about $1,500,000. 




CLASS IN MANUAL TRAINING (CARPENTRY) IN ISLINGTON HIGHER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 



and forms a sort of social centre, besides, 
providing for the wants of its patrons in 
a range of subjects extending from pub- 
lic lectures to tours to all parts of the 
world. 

Central Technical School in Liverpool. 
The Central Technical School in 
Liverpool provides systematic courses 
for students as follows : Building trades 
students; engineering trades students; 
electrical students; electric wiremen; 



The general scope of the work of this 
institution may be indicated by the 
following brief outline of the subjects 
in which courses are offered: For day 
classes — Mathematical courses ; first 
year general course; mechanical engi- 
neering; physics and electrical engi- 
neering; municipal and sanitary engi- 
neering; applied chemistry under the 
following topics: 

a. General Technological Chemistry. 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN CSHOOLS 



33 



b. Chemistry of Textiles {Bleaching, 

Dyeing, and Printing.) 

c. Manufacture of Paper. 

d. Metallurgy and Assaying. 

e. Brewing. 

f. Electro-Chemistry . 

g. Photography. 

Besides the foregoing, the following 
are included: Photography and the 
printing crafts; engineers' apprentices' 
course; plumbers' apprentices' course; 
architectural courses; library assist- 
ants' course; and textile manufacture. 

For evening classes, instruction is 
offered in the three general departments 
of Science, Technology, and Art, with 
sub-divisions of each. 

Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical 
College. 

The Glasgow and West of Scotland 
Technical College was incorporated in 
1879, but its previous history extends 
back to the closing years of the eight- 
eenth century. A series of new build- 
ings are in course of completion which 
will ultimately form the largest structure 
of the kind in Great Britain. 

The subjects in which courses are 
offered are the following : Mathematics, 
natural philosophy, chemistry, tech- 
nical chemistry, metallurgy, mechanics, 
engineering, drawing, civil engineer- 
ing, motive power engineering, electri- 
cal engineering, mining and geology, 
naval architecture, architecture and 
building trades, botany and bacteri- 
ology, zoology, physiology, history and 
theory of music, plumbing, sheet metal 
work, printing and allied trades, 
watch making and clock making, bak- 
ing, boot making, tailoring and weav- 
ing. 

The Municipal School of Technology 
in Manchester is, by common consent, 
the best institution of its kind in the 
British Isles. 

The Municipal Trade School in Munich 



will be treated in connection with the 
account of my visit to Munich. 

Two Opposing Influences in Industrial 
Education. 

I am strongly impressed that there 
are two powerful influences seeking to 
guide the trend of industrial education 
in Great Britain, if not throughout 
Europe, generally, today. One is that of 
the workman who seeks nothing more 
than an opportunity to develop his skill 
as an artisan in his chosen trade, and 
naturally this is the popular view — the 
view which, if I am not mistaken, is in 
the last analysis the general view of the 
subject held in this country. 

The other view is that held by the few 
far-seeing educational leaders who have 
the ultimate well-being of mankind in a 
more fundamental sense at heart and 
desire to make industrial training some- 
thing more nearly approaching educa- 
tion in its real meaning — a view which 
was expressed by Mr. J. H. Reynolds, 
the Director of the Manchester Municipal 
School of Technology, when he said that 
the institution of which he was head was 
"not a trade school, but a school for 
tradesmen." A statement which he ex- 
plained by saying that they scrupu- 
lously avoided teaching a trade, but 
that they did seek to teach the scientific 
principles of that trade. For example, 
their department of textile manufacture 
was so organized that a man might learn 
all of its science without its commercial 
application. The latter was left until 
the man should learn it in a factory 
operated on a commercial basis. Then 
it was hoped that the scientific knowl- 
edge he had acquired and the training 
he had had at school would enable him 
to become a commercial organizer of 
machinery and labor as no training 
acquired in the commercial plant alone 
would ever enable him to be. The 
difference, fundamentally, is that be- 



34 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



tween the training of the apprentice- 
ship and that of the well organized tech- 
nical laboratory and its legitimate ac- 
companiments. 

Drawing as Related to Industrial 
Education. 
Moreover, I am impressed that whether 
one takes the one view or the other, the 
formal drawing found throughout the 
elementary and higher grade schools of 
Great Britain is to be one of the strongest 
factors contributing to the success of the 
trade school, or school for tradesmen. 



crafts and technical training Americans 
cannot well overlook. 

LEYDEN. 

Elementary School. 
My visit to Leyden was one full of 
interest from an educational point of 
view. I had opportunity to visit but a 
single grade school — and that a girls' 
school of some three hundred pupils with 
thirteen teachers averaging about 
twenty-five children to the class. 
Twenty-five is the maximum number 
allotted to a class. 




THE GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND TECHNICAL COLLEGE. 



It is the sort of training demanded for 
that kind of school, and the more drawing 
of that type is emphasized, the more 
successful will their schools of arts and 
crafts become. In this connection, I 
will anticipate by calling attention to 
the vast amount of drawing required in 
the Municipal Trade School, or Stadt- 
ischen Gewerbeschule, in Munich as pre- 
liminary to actual shop work. There 
their cry is "Draw! draw!! draw!!! 
draw!!!! and draw without ceasing." 
These features of schools of arts and 



The school has no kindergarten and 
the children enter at six years of age. 
Languages. 

In the fourth year the pupils begin the 
study of French, their first foreign 
language. This is followed in a year or 
two by beginning German without drop- 
ping French, and during the last two 
years of their course, English is studied 
collaterally with French and German. 
This language work is all done in addition 
to the usual work in the pupil's native 
tongue included in the course of an 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



35 



ordinary elementary school of any 
enlightened country, and the course 
there offered would compare favorably 
with that of our grammar schools with 
a ninth year added. 

Manual Work. 

In manual work, I found the girls 
learning knitting, sewing, embroidery, 
and the old time sampler work. Gar- 
ment-making is taught complete from 
measuring and cutting out, to the finished 
article, which is often designed for wear 
by the pupil herself. The knitting is of 
the intensely practical kind, consisting 
of wool yarn stockings, usually, for 
personal wear. Crocheting is also 
taught. 

Drawing and Music. 

There is a special teacher for drawing, 
a subject in which the work is all very 
formal, consisting either of applied de- 
sign or the work preliminary to it. 

Music is taught entirely by the class- 
room teacher. In physical training the 
pupils of the lower grades are taught by 
a man. Those in the upper grades have 
a woman for instruction in that subject. 
Building. 

The school building was immaculate, 
the neatest and cleanest school building 
I saw in Europe. 

The rooms were heated throughout 
by the typical Dutch stoves — one in each 
classroom, and a temperature of from 
55° to 60° Fahrenheit was sustained. 
Recitations. 

I listened to several recitations, among 
them one in English — an advanced class 
in that subject. The lesson consisted of 
reading a rather obscure English novel, 
the meaning of which the girls appeared 
to grasp without great difficulty. The 
recitation, wholly in English, was con- 
ducted very like the average American 
teacher treats a modern foreign lan- 
guage recitation, from which the use of 
English is wholly excluded. 



This school I visited without previous 
notice or warning. I was received by 
the head mistress and her associates with 
great cordiality and treated with the 
utmost courtesy. 

Neatness. 

The neatness and good order of the 
entire school made a strong impression 
on me. All written work was put into 
books with which the pupils were pro- 
vided for the purpose. Scraps or loose 
sheets of paper for desk work were not 
to be seen. Yet the books showed the 
greatest care and neatness, with very 
few mistakes. There was no black 
board nor slate work. The only black- 
board in the classroom was a small one 
near the teacher's desk for her exclusive 
use. 

Illustrative Helps. 

I was impressed by the wealth of pic- 
torial illustrative material, representing 
various industries. For example, a ser- 
ies of large colored lithographs mounted 
upon heavy cardboard was hung upon 
the walls of one classroom, representing, 
first, a forest where the trees were felled 
and made ready for transportation to 
the saw mill. Then each separate, 
successive stage was shown of the pro- 
cess by which the saw logs were taken 
from the forest and changed finally into 
finished products of various kinds. All 
of the great leading industries of the 
world were treated in a similar manner 
at some place in the school. 

University of Ley den. 
After a visit to this school, I went to 
the University of Leyden, but found the 
lecture halls empty, owing to a fall of 
snow the night before, which the stu- 
dents had appropriated a holiday to 
enjoy. So that all I could do was to 
make a tour of the grounds and build- 
ings under the leadership of a guide. 
In the Law Department where I found 
a small group of students, including 



36 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



three or four women, I was made con- 
scious that this staid old institution has 
become co-educational, and learned that 
it has enrolled among its student body 
about one hundred and sixty women 
students, mostly in the departments of 
Law and Medicine. Queen Wilhelmina 
is a member of the governing body of 
the university and is usually very regu- 
lar in her attendance upon its sessions, 
evincing a keen, intelligent interest in 
its proceedings. 

Industrial Training. 
While in Holland, I had no oppor- 



and I had to content myself with what 
I could gather from a visit to the 
University of Berlin, on such a day, 
when the attendance was nearly as light 
as I had previously found it at Leyden. 

MUNICH. 

Industrial Education. 
In Munich, I visited the Stadtischen 
Gewerbeschule Miinchen and the Tech- 
nischen Hochschule, spending the most 
of my time in the former which I went 
to Munich particularly to see. Here as 
usual, cordial courtesy marked the treat- 
ment which I received at the hands of the 




UNIVERSITY OF LEYDEN. 



tunity to visit any institution of indus- 
trial training, but upon inquiry I found 
that one had recently been established 
at Delft, which is intended to become 
the centre of a system of trade schools 
which shall extend throughout the king- 
dom. 

BERLIN. 

The day I had given myself for Berlin 
proved to be a very stormy one of wind 
and snow, a veritable blizzard, so that it 
was impracticable for me to make a 
contemplated visit to Charlottenburg, 



authorities in charge of the school, and 
I was deeply impressed with the thor- 
oughness of the work demanded as 
preliminary to the course desired as 
well as the course itself. The school is 
open every day in the week, Sundays 
included, the school being in session from 
eight o'clock in the morning until twelve 
o'clock, noon, on Sunday, for the benefit 
of apprentices who cannot take the 
regular courses through the week, but a 
pre-requisite invariably insisted upon 
for admission to the school on Sunday is 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



37 



that of two hours careful work in draw- 
ing in the evening of each of the other 
six days of the week. 

Drawing. 
It would seem as if everything done 



wood, or other material, before the 
actual process of construction, or manu- 
facture, was begun. Then the drawing 
of whatever character it might be, 
whether freehand or mechanical, was 




MUNICIPAL TRADE SCHOOL IN MUNICH. 



in the school depended primarily upon 
a most carefully finished drawing in 
detail of the object to be constructed, 
or manufactured, whether of metal, 



done with a care which forbade the 
making of a single mis-stroke or a single 
superfluous stroke. Take, for example, 
a bit of Venetian ironwork to be done — 



38 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



a screen or piece of grille work, possibly. 
Before the pupil begins his task in the 
shop, a careful drawing is made, which, 
when completed, shows the final 
product in all the minute details of its 
finished state, so that with the exception 
of actually handling the iron and ham- 
mer the pupil may fairly be said really 
to have completed the work before 
going into the metal workshop. 

Disposition Made of Fine Work. 
One exquisite piece of Venetian iron 
work, the foreman of the shop naively 
informed me, would find its way into the 
salesroom of a certain well-known dealer 
in antique furniture in Paris, there to 
be sold, after it had received certain 
treatment to give it an appearance of 
great age, as the artistic product of 
skilled handicraft of centuries ago; and, 
if a layman may be permitted to judge, 
the dealer would have no difficulty in 
selling the article as represented, so 
excellently had the workmanship paved 
the way for it. 

Deutsches Museum von Meisterwerken 
der Naturwissenschaft und Technik. 
Munich contains a most interesting 
museum known as the Deutsches Mu- 
seum von Meisterwerken der Natur- 
wissenschaft und Technik, an institution 
such as would be a most valuable educa- 
tional asset to any city. This museum is 
of very recent origin, having been opened 
in November, 1906, with ceremonies of 
state. It was about three years from the 
time the general plan was first made pub- 
lic until it was ready for opening, and 
despite its being so new, it is very com- 
plete and satisfactory. As the plan has 
been worked out, it is designed to show 
the history of the progress and develop- 
ment of physical and technical science. 
For example, the history of the science of 
chemistry is shown from the crude cloister- 
like cell of the alchemist to the complete 
well organized laboratory of the modern 



chemist. The history of piano making is 
displayed through all the stages of devel- 
opment from the clavichord and harpsi- 
chord to the magnificent grand piano- 
forte we see in luxurious, modern draw- 
ing rooms. The history of harvesting 
machinery is exemplified, from the crude 
sickle to a perfect model of the great 
modern harvester which moves through 
the vast fields of the great wheat-pro- 
ducing regions of the Northwest, taking 
the grain from the straw as it stands in 
the fields, and leaving it cleaned ready 
for market in bags on the ground. 

The field of geology is covered in an 
equally satisfactory manner. So are all 
the fields of applied mechanics — both 
experimental and industrial, or commer- 
cial. Astronomy, geodesy, mathemat- 
tics, mechanics, optics, heat, acoustics, 
electricity and magnetism, telegraphy, 
printing, photography, clocks and other 
related mechanism, textile machinery, 
agricultural machinery of all kinds, 
hydraulics, bridge-building, canal build- 
ing, naval architecture; these indicate 
something of the range of subjects, and 
their subdivisions, illustrated in the 
most realistic manner possible, and all 
treated in such a way as to be under- 
stood fairly well, at least, by an ordinary, 
intelligent spectator. 

A museum of this type is of untold 

value in educating and informing the 

public mind concerning the progress of 

the material side of the world's history. 

Tendency Toward Materialism. 

I cannot close that part of my report 
relating to Germany without speaking 
of a feeling of alarm which is already 
discernible among her own people as to 
the materialistic tendency of education 
in that country and its effect upon their 
national life. This fear is felt and ex- 
pressed even by the busy man of affairs 
engaged in the crowded walks of com- 
mercial activity. A cloud of danger of 
losing sight of their religious and ethical 





% « a mix ■ 




40 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



standards of a high order of life, by their 
becoming too completely wrapped up in 
pursuit of sordid wealth, with a subse- 
quent reaction to a career of mere ephem- 
eral personal pleasure, apparently is 
looming high enough above the horizon 
to cause serious reflection and thought 
among the German people. 

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 

For any one in the brief space of seven 
weeks to attempt to acquire more than 
the merest superficial knowledge of the 
educational systems of five countries 
which he has never visited before, would 
be as absurd as it would be futile, and 
my description of the school systems of 
these countries, in so far as I have 
treated them, is based upon such infor- 
mation as I gathered from those with 
whom I obtained interviews, and from 
other convenient available sources — 
observations, so to speak, of these 
schools, rather than from any actual, 
extended study of them. 

Excellent Teachers. 
From my observations, I am well 
convinced that throughout Great Brit- 
ain there are to be found devoted, con- 
secrated teachers and educational leaders 
who are earnestly striving after what is 
loftiest and best in pedagogical ideals — - 
ideals in methods, ideals in results. 

Scotch Education in Advance of English. 

That, generally speaking, Scotland is 
immeasurably in advance of England 
and Wales, as regards education, is most 
clearly self-evident. That there are 
parts of England and Wales immeasur- 
ably in advance of other parts of these 
same countries, is equally true. 

London and Swansea. 
In London, I saw some as good sec- 
ondary school work as I have ever wit- 
nessed. In Swansea, I found most excel- 
lent primary reading — the best I heard 
while gone — obtained by the use of a 



phonic method. There I also observed 
highly commendable work in language 
and in English Literature. 

Edinburgh. 

In Edinburgh, there was exhibited 
some very clever work in geography, with 
which was correlated most effectively, 
geology, botany, language work — - 
both written and oral — history and 
English Literature. In the same school 
I saw some brilliantly executed quick- 
step marching of the pupils into and out 
of school. 

In Professor D. S. Calderwood's de- 
partment of Method in English Litera- 
ture, in the Teacher's Training College 
of Edinburgh I listened to one of his 
pupils give an illustration of a presenta- 
tion to a class, of Portia's celebrated 
address to the court, in the Merchant of 
Venice, beginning, "The quality of 
mercy is not strained," etc., that I could 
well wish might be repeated in the high 
schools throughout our own country, 
for the benefit of the students. 

I was also greatly interested in certain 
achievements of the infant department 
of one of the elementary schools of 
Edinburgh. 

A physical culture exercise in a higher 
elementary school in Islington in the 
north of London excited my warmest 
admiration. 

These are a few of the good features 
I noticed of the work in Great Gritain. 

Comparison Between Great Britain and 
America. 

But to compare American schools 
with British schools in any close sense, is 
out of the question, because of the funda- 
mental differences between the social 
fabrics of the two nations. 

There are things in the schools of each, 
however, that may be worthy of con- 
sideration by the other. If English 
education were made a little less ma- 
terial and commercial, I think it would 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



41 



better conserve the interests of the 
people. On the other hand, we, possi- 
bly, may learn something from the 
definiteness and precision of the aim of 
methods in British education. On the 
material side, their modern, massive 
buildings, with their magnificent equip- 
ment, form an example well worthy of 
our imitation. 



educational institutions a country has 
fostered, and it is far easier to compare 
such results than to compare merely the 
machinery by which they have been 
produced. 

Points of British Superiority. 
Judging such results, I am constrained 
to feel that in two respects British edu- 
cation is superior to ours. 




BURNS' COTTAGE. A SPECIMEN OF WORK FROM THE INFANT DEPARTMENT OF THE 

ALBION ROAD SCHOOL OF EDINBURGH. DRAWING AND WRITING BOTH BY A 

CHILD SIX YEARS OF AGE, WHO HAS BEEN IN SCHOOL ONE YEAR. 



The Ultimate Test. 
In the last analysis, however, it is to 
the ultimate results of the educational 
system of any country that we must look 
for that upon which we may pass 
final judgment. It is in such results 
that we find the product of whatever 



First : The taproot of our educational 
life has not reached down so deep as has 
that of Britain. It has not yet pene- 
trated to the deep springs of life whence 
issue the streams of creative power and 
discovery which mark the epochs, or 
great events, in the history of the prog- 



42 



REPORT ON EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 



ress and development of science and 
art and literature. The issues of our 
life are from more superficial sources. 
We have produced a Thomas A. Edison, 
but not a Lord Kelvin nor a Sir William 
Crookes. 

Second: The tree of our national, or 
educational life, has not borne a flower of 
such exquisite beauty nor of such delicate 
fragrance as that of our mother coun- 
try. Our civilization is not old enough. 
It is a thousand years back to Alfred the 
Great, but not even three hundred years 
to the Mayflower. 

It is to our schools that we must look 
for the forces which shall enable us to 
overcome the seven centuries' advantage 
the parent nation has of us, and give to 
us the greater glory also. Therefore it 
behooves us to strengthen our schools 
accordingly, from kindergarten to uni- 
versity, with all due care and caution. 

INTERCHANGE OF VISITS. 

Of the beneficent results of the inter- 
change of visits really inaugurated by 
the Mosely Commission which visited 
this country under the leaderhip of Sir 
Alfred Mosely in the autumn and early 
winter of 1903, followed by a visit of 
British teachers to this country in 1906- 
1907, and then the return visit of 
American teachers to the British Isles 
in 1908-1909, all at the initiation of Sir 
Alfred Mosely, not the least is the per- 
sonal acquaintances formed between the^ 
representatives of the two nations, and 
the opportunity for each to acquire 



even a superficial personal knowledge 
of the national life — both public and 
private — of the country of the other. 

If, as rumored, Sir Alfred Mosely is to 
continue this good work, we may hope 
that not only will the acquaintance 
already formed extend and become 
more intimate, but that ere long it will 
be arranged that at least a limited num- 
ber of visitors from each nation may 
remain long enough in the country of 
the other to obtain a fairly comprehen- 
sive and thorough knowledge of the 
actual organization and methods of the 
school system of the other. 

I cannot close without speaking of the 
very favorable impression made by the 
three Newark visitors — Miss Hasbrouck, 
Miss Chase, and Mr. Taylor — who pre- 
ceded me, to all of whom I am indebted 
not only for manifold courtesies shown 
me in preparation for my own trip 
abroad, but for paving the way for any 
one from this city who might follow 
them, to meet with a more than cordial 
reception at the hands of the British 
people. 

In conclusion, I beg to thank the 
Committee and Board of Education for 
the confidence in me implied in confer- 
ring upon me the honor of appointment 
as their representative abroad. 

Respectfully submitted. 

Corliss Fitz Randolph. 

Public School Principals 1 Association, 
of Newark, New Jersey. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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